1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to devices used for hardening of the exterior surfaces of wooden baseball bats. Such baseball bats were often hardened by using a hard portable hand implement such as a bone or other similar hardened item which is moved into compressing abutment with the exterior surface of the hitting or head area of bat for moving therealong for compressing of the wooden fibers immediately adjacent to the external surface. This compressing step tends to substantially harden the hitting head of a wooden bat for enhancing power during hitting a baseball therewith and it also minimizes breakage. This is a common longstanding practice utilized for hardening of wooden baseball bats. The present invention provides a apparatus to achieve this hardening more easily and more completely and with much less physical effort.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A number of different devices have been designed for the purposes of enhancing the performance of wooden baseball bats such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 987,368 patented Mar. 21, 1911 to J. W. Hyatt on a “Compressed Wooden Article And Method Of Producing The Same”; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,110,487 patented Sep. 15, 1914 to J. A. Hillerich and assigned to J. F. Hillerich & Son Company, Incorporated on a “Bat”; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,367,492 patented Feb. 1, 1921 to G. B. Miles on a “Baseball Bat And Method Of Making Same”; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,480,658 patented Jan. 15, 1924 to W. F. Bostock and assigned to United She Machinery Corporation on “Manufacture Of Wooden Articles; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,611,858 patented Dec. 21, 1926 to I. Middlekauff and assigned to Union Hardware Company on a “Baseball Bat”; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,644,801 patented Oct. 11, 1927 to A. H. Van Der Werff and assigned to N. V. Maatschappij Ago on a “Method Of Treating Wood”; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,039,221 patented Apr. 28, 1936 to J. A. Hillerich and assigned to Hillerich & Bradsby Co. on “Treatment Of Wood For Baseball Bats”; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,101,542 patented Dec. 7, 1937 to R. N. Hartzell and assigned to Hartzell Industries, Inc. on a “Method Of Compressing Wood”; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,370,033 patented Feb. 20, 1945 to H. W. Hall on a “Laminated Article And Method Of Manufacture”; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,458,919 patented Jan. 11, 1949 to J. E. Marsden on a “Baseball Bat”; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,488,301 patented Nov. 15, 1949 to C. B. Lundstrom on a “Furniture Component With Hardened Exposed Surfaces”; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,739,859 patented May 28, 1957 to H. F. Darling et al on a “Baseball Bat And Method Of Making The Same”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,116,252 patented Sep. 26, 1978 to Yosaku Ikeda on a “Method And Apparatus For Producing Baseball Bats”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,136,722 patented Jan. 30, 1979 to Charles F. Travis on a “Method Of Making Impact Delivery In Striking Members From Compressed Wood Veneers”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,410 patented Jan. 31, 1984 to Anders Strandberg and assigned to AB Nils Darje on a “Method For Compressing Wooden Elements”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,251 patented Dec. 22, 1987 to David C. Cook and assigned to Thomas O. Cook on a “Ball Bat”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,088 patented Mar. 2, 1993 to Thomas Thomassen et al and assigned to Dansk Teknologisk Institut on a “Method And Apparatus For Compressing A Wood Sample”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,913 patented Sep. 6, 1994 to Mitsuhiko Tanahashi et al and assigned to Hisaka Works Limited and Mitusuhiko Tanahashi on a “Wood Treating Method And Apparatus”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,800,293 patented Sep. 1, 1998 to Jack W. MacKay, Jr. and assigned to Hillerich & Bradsby on a “Laminated Wood Bat And Method Of Making Same”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,904,194 patented May 18, 1999 to Lennart Castwall et al on a “Method For Producing A Hard Wood Element”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,751 patented Apr. 11, 2000 to Sun-Tae An on a “Method And Apparatus For Increasing The Hardness And Intensity Of Wood”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,224 patented Apr. 25, 2000 to Keijo Hellgren et al and assigned to Asea Brown Boveri AB on a “Device For Pressure Treatment of Wood”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,083,126 patented Jul. 4, 2000 to Robert Gentile on a “Ball Bat”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,000 patented May 22, 2001 to Wiley I. Bowling on a “Ball-Bat Repairing Method”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,432,007 patented Aug. 13, 2002 to Gary W. Filice et al and assigned to Jas. D. Easton, Inc. on a “Governed Performance Hard Shell Bat”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,471,608 patented Oct. 29, 2002 to Joseph D. Mitchell on a “Breakage-Resistant Baseball Bat And Production Thereof”.